Zondervan Blog

Lynne Hybels Appeals for Help for Crisis in Congo

Comparing the gravity of the situation in Congo to the Rwandan Genocide, author Lynne Hybels is calling upon the Church to get involved before it's too late. More Information

Rick Warren to Interview Presidential Candidates on National Television This Saturday

Rick Warren, bestselling author of The Purpose Driven Life and pastor of Saddleback church, will be interviewing Barak Obama and John McCain on the nationally televised Saddleback Civil Forum on the Presidency Saturday, August 16, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. PST.

“This will be an historic event. Never have the two candidates been interviewed by a pastor in a church. It will be a great day for all churches, showing the importance of the local church being at the civil table,” said Warren in an email sent to fellow pastors.

Warren confirmed that, at the candidates’ request, this two-hour event will be held in a non-debate format and open to all media. Questions will be posed exclusively by Warren, and each candidate will converse separately with Warren for approximately one hour, beginning with Senator Obama as determined by a coin toss. This historic forum will be the only joint campaign event prior to each party’s national convention.

For more information, visit the Saddleback Civil Forum website (www.saddlebackcivilforum.com).

Is the American Church In Crisis?

According to an article by David T. Olson in the March/April 2008 issue of Rev! magazine, research by the American Church Research Project (TACRP) shows that church attendance from 1990 to 2006 hasn’t come anywhere near to keeping up with population growth. Only 17.3 percent of the population regularly attending worship services today, a far cry from the 40 percent figure we’re used to seeing.

So how can churches reverse the trend? Olson says that churches need to adapt to cultural change, help established churches become healthy, start more well-conceived new churches, learn to share Jesus in a firsthand manner, and recover the message and mission of Jesus. For details, pick up a copy of Olson’s new book, The American Church in Crisis, now available in stores everywhere.

The Evangelical Covenant Church also recently wrote an article about The American Church in Crisis that you can read at this link.

HIV/AIDS: What Would Jesus Do?

Here are two great opportunities to learn how the church can better engage the world as Jesus did in the battle against AIDS.

Global Summit on AIDS & The Church, November 28-30, Saddleback Church, Lake Forest, California. From the Website: “What is faith without action? This summit will provide you with the information and tools you need to discover how your congregation, organization, or agency can start to make a positive change.” Speakers include Rick Warren, Kay Warren, John Ortberg, John Thomas, Lynne Hybels, Dennis Rainey, Bruce Sonnenberg, and Her Excellency, Mrs. Jeannette Kagame, First Lady of Rwanda.


HIV/AIDS Youth Summit, a free event (for those with CCN satellite equipment) put on by CCN. From the Website: The world has never seen a greater humanitarian crisis than the current AIDS pandemic. But the world has also never seen a generation of students like today’s teenagers!” Speakers include Rick Warren, Kay Warren, Jenna Bush, and Francis Chan.

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Christianity, God, Rick Warren, AIDS, Saddleback, Zondervan, Bible, HIV, Youth, Kay Warren, Jesus

Zondervan Is Honored

We've won several awards at the 2007 International Christian Retail Show in Atlanta. Read the news and celebrate with us! :)

Fire at The Simple Way

This news comes from Shane Claiborne, author of The Irresistible Revolution:

This morning, a 7-alarm fire consumed an abandoned warehouse in our Kensington neighborhood in Philadelphia. The Simple Way Community Center at 3200 Potter Street was destroyed as well as at least eight of our neighbors' homes. Over 100 people were evacuated from their homes, and 400 families are currently without power. Despite this tragedy, we are incredibly thankful to share that all of our community members and every one of our neighbors is safely out of harm's way....

Read more about this and how you can help...

Remembering Ruth Bell Graham

Zondervan is grieving, along with the rest of the world, at the passing of a truly great woman, Ruth Bell Graham. Her husband, Rev. Billy Graham, with whom she shared a lifetime of love, has called her his soul mate and best friend.

Ruth was instrumental to the success of her husband's ministries. And while she faithfully supported him through every one of his global evangelistic campaigns, she grew to become a beacon to the world in her own right. Ruth was an active contributor to the children’s hospital that bears her and her husband’s names, but her most powerful ministry was her writing and poetry. With a ready and warm smile, she expressed her faith openly and encouraged the most downhearted among us to enjoy life even during the darkest of times.

She imparted to all of us a love for God, for his Word, and for others. She taught us to turn to God to meet our needs and to cultivate an intimate relationship with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Ruth allowed God to flow through her words and actions to touch countless lives for good. We already miss her dearly, but we know our loss is heaven’s gain. She has left a legacy of love, which will remain alive forever.

We extend our thoughts and prayers to Rev. Graham, the children, and the rest of the Graham family.

Bruce Ryskamp
President & CEO
Zondervan

The Bible Experience Named 2007 Audio Book of the Year

I just received word that The Bible Experience New Testament has been named Audio Book of the Year—the most prestigious award for excellence in audio books—by the Audio Publishers Association (APA). This is a secular organization, mind you, naming a Bible as the top audio book of 2007.

An award like this will undoubtedly encourage people who may have never considered reading the Bible to listen to God's word. And we know God's Word does not return void (Isaiah 55:11)!

In case you haven’t heard it yet, I invite you to listen to a sample or two:

>>Jesus tempted in the wilderness

>>Press on toward the goal

Take a look at the inspiring behind-the-scenes videos of the recording sessions available on YouTube and the Zondervan Website.

For more information about the award, visit the Zondervan Website. More details will be posted on the Zondervan Newsroom page.

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Christianity, God, The Bible Experience, Audio Book of the Year, Zondervan, Bible

Dr. Ben Carson to Be Honored as the 2007 Ford Freedom Award Scholar

Zondervan author Dr. Benjamin Carson, director of the division of pediatric neurosurgery and a professor of neurosurgery, oncology, plastic surgery, and pediatrics at John Hopkins Medical Institutions, will be honored as the 2007 Ford Freedom Award Scholar at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African-American History in Detroit on Tuesday, May 22.

The prestigious Ford Freedom Awards were created by the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History and Ford Motor Company in 1999. The program celebrates and recognizes African Americans whose contributions and sacrifices have paved the way for important and lasting changes in society.

Past Ford Freedom Award Scholars include actor Morgan Freeman (2006), jazz-pop great Al Jarreau (2005), entertainer Bill Cosby (2004), NASA astronaut Dr. Mae C. Jemison (2003), and others.

As a bestselling author, Dr. Carson has written several books including Think Big and Gifted Hands. Dr. Carson regularly shares his true, motivational story of how he rose from the troubled son of a single mother in inner-city Detroit to the heights of the medical profession to audiences of inner city children and corporate executives alike.

Robert E. Webber Now Worshipping in Heaven

Robert E. Webber, a theologian well-known for his work on worship and the early church, died of pancreatic cancer April 27 at his home in Sawyer, Mich. At the time of his death, Bob was the William R. and Geraldyn B. Myers professor ministry at Northern Seminary in Lombard, Ill. He was also the president of the Institute for Worship Studies in Jacksonville, Florida, and professor of theology emeritus at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois.

Paul Engle, Zondervan executive editor and associate publisher, says, "We at Zondervan feel privileged to have worked with Bob on Listening to the Beliefs of Emerging Churches, what ended up being the last book of his released while he was still alive. Bob was a delight to work with on a project in which he pulled together a diversity of young leaders in the emerging church. To the end he remained conversant with some of the twists and turns of the emerging church and was able to connect with leaders many years his junior. It was fun to sketch out the vision for the book with him in a restaurant in Los Angeles on a warm spring day and then over many months exchange emails and phone calls until the final product was given birth in February of 2007.

"Bob's concluding assessment of the emerging church at the end of Listening to the Beliefs of Emerging Churches was vintage work that reveals his wisdom and warm Christian faith. His final words of the book say, 'rather than perpetuate the divisions that exist between the traditionalists, the pragmatists, and the emergents, the best we can all do is to join the conversation and learn from each other, affirming that we all stand in the historic faith as we seek to understand it and apply it to the new world in which we minister. Who knows where that might take us?'"

Zondervan will pay tribute to Bob at Emergence 2007: Seattle (June 1-2), the first of three events to open to regional audiences the discussion started in Listening to the Beliefs of Emerging Churches.

See Christianity Today's profile: Remembering Robert Webber, and Northern Seminary's rememberance: Northern Mourns the Loss of Dr. Robert Webber.